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PhilUK said..Mark _australia said..
Its also less volume bounce at the front in chop, plus rigidity (like corrugated steel)
Thats true.
My Exocet S3 doesnt have a recessed deck around the mast track, but does have a scooped out deck in front of that. Maybe that does reduce windage, the board is hard to get tail walking, but it is low rockered overall.
But there was some delamination of the rail, I reckon due to it flexing from a couple of catapults. Fixed with some foaming epoxy. The board is still relatively thick in the nose, which helped absorb impacts. If it had had a thin nose like some boards it might have split from top to bottom.
It is very hard to pinpoint the influence of one factor of board design, but a recessed deck is a kind of a no brainer.
The most apparent advantage, one that everybody can appreciate, is the reduced volume up front. Than there is the lowered mast, small difference. The increased rigidity of the board. Nobody can feel it but is there due to ... physics. And finally the biggest one: increased control. And here one could trust the results ... or not, if he/she (where are the she in these forum? Is it only us males quarrelling about nothing?) does not believe much in evidence. All I can say is that even at my recreational level the recent scooped up acquisitions, a Starboard Futura 71 and an AV Modena 60, are a marvel of control compared to previous generations slalom boards. The AV, in particular, is ridiculous when it comes to easiness.
What is against a scooped up deck? Nothing. The idea that somehow a scooped deck makes a board more fragile with respect to mast hits is a bit of a fantasy. It has been said a few times in this thread: the mast hits the rail of any board when you hit the rail with a mast. Don't hit the rail with a mast, it is bad for the rail of the board if you hit the board rail with the mast!
